


Seashell Shores

by Babenclaw



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, It's a mixed bag of angst and fluff, None of these stories are really connected, but I don't want to spam a bunch of individual short stories, prompt fills, some of these are happy and some of these are less happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-07-11 10:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7044874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babenclaw/pseuds/Babenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You will always find your way back to each other. An unbreakable connection!"</p>
<p>A collection of short stories about Terra and Aqua. Some of them are canon, some of them are AU, all of them revolve around the two of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Saying 'I love you' in a way you could never say back."

Aqua tried to show love in everything she did. It might be different kinds of love, but it was love nonetheless. She showed love when she brushed Ven’s hair out of his face and when she taunted Terra, challenged him to push a little harder, strive a little more. Love had many faces. Some of them were friendship love, like how she felt for Queen Minnie. Some of them were familial, like the way she felt for Ven or Master Eraqus. And some of those loves were true love, like the kind that saved Snow White.

All of those loves were important and true. While they are all different, all love, some of them ran deeper than others. Some loves can lift a person out of the deepest darkness.

Some loves, though, can plunge a person into the blackest abyss.

Love will abide many things, but it will not abide loss. Not easily.

When Aqua saw Terra fall back into that darkness, there was no hesitation on her part before she threw herself in after him. She had already lost so much, lost her father and her brother to its grasp. So many important people stolen from her. Aqua could not abide this loss too.

The darkness around her was like ice, colder than any magic she could possibly summon. It hurt, bit into her exposed skin as she raced downward toward the streak of white falling away from her.

She would not lose him. She would not. There had been too much loss recently.

Her Keyblade Glider strained as Aqua urged it faster, reaching in desperation for the falling form. The relief that raced through her when she gripped him in her arms nearly made her knees buckle, but there was no time for that. She spun around and pushed her glider harder, racing for the pinprick of light in the distance. Her vehicle strained under the effort, and Aqua soon realized that there was no way they would both make it out.

It wasn’t hard to make her decision. With a sigh, she hugged Terra tight to her chest, feeling his heartbeat, searching desperately for a small sliver of light in the terrible darkness inside him, the little bit of light that was unquestionably Terra, the boy she cared for more than anyone. She pressed her keyblade into his hand, swallowing back the feeling of dread in her chest.

“I’m with you,” she murmured into his ear. He carried a bit of her heart with him wherever he went. There was nothing in any world that could change that.

She had never told him how important he was to her, but she could show him. And as she sent him toward the light with every piece of herself she could spare, she hoped he knew. This was just another way of telling him the truth.

_I love you. I’ll find my way home. I promise._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?"
> 
> Unclear time positioning. Make of it what you will.

Aqua spun slowly in front of her mirror, her lower lip caught between her teeth as she admired the way the shimmering fabric flared out around her thighs. It was strange for her, the way the softness tickled her bare legs, similar to the sashes she usually wore and yet somehow different. She was unused to looking so delicate.

The young woman slowly came to a stop. Her fingers pressed gently against her lips, admiring the soft pink of the gloss she’d applied. The girl in the mirror looked so unlike her. She felt almost pretty like this, like the kind of girl that people would stop to admire, like the princesses she’d met across the worlds. Soft, lovely, and full of light. Aqua had no problem with being a warrior, but that didn’t mean she didn’t also want to be a girl.

Aqua was so preoccupied with her reflection, she didn’t notice the sounds of footsteps in the hallway. The knock on her door nearly made her jump. She stumbled over the small pile of rejected clothes around her to get to the door. She yanked the door open and came face to face with Terra. A light flush slowly crept across his cheeks. 

“Aqua?” he asked, the surprise clear on his face. “Why are you…?”

Aqua shrugged and leaned back against the doorjamb. “Why am I what?”

Terra scratched the back of his neck nervously, avoiding her eyes. “Nothing. You, uh, look nice. You look really nice.”

Aqua laughed and pushed off from her perch, moving back into her room. Terra followed her slowly, looking around in confusion at the mess of clothes littering her floor. 

“Thank you, Terra. I’m going out to meet someone,” Aqua answered with a little smile.

Terra, who was halfway through sitting on the edge of her bed, make a choked noise and stood back up. “Meeting someone?”

Aqua met his eyes through the mirror, a smile still on her face. “Yeah. While I was in Olympus Coliseum looking for you, Zack asked me on a date.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, even though it kind of was. She’d spent her whole life with the same two boys, fighting and laughing and hurting right alongside them. She knew they forgot that she was a girl more often than not. She tried not to let it bother her, but Zack’s excitement and offer of a date was nice in a strange way. At least he noticed that she was a girl. Aqua doubted much would come of the date, but it would be nice to go out and be treated like a girl for once. 

Terra slowly sat back down on the bed, looking down at his hands. “Oh. Is he coming here?” he asked, his voice a bit gruff.

Aqua laughed as she pulled her sandals on. “Of course not, Terra. He can’t travel worlds. I’ll be going there.”

Terra huffed and crossed his arms. “Right. Okay. Have fun.”

Aqua stood and put her hands on her hips. A small, incredulous smile crept its way across her lips. “Wait a minute. Terra, are you jealous?”

Terra forced a chuckle and stood up too. “What? Of course not. Go enjoy your date.” He ran a hand through his hair roughly, looking a little lost. Aqua smiled wider and walked over, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek.

“I will. I’ll be home later tonight, okay? We can go up to the Summit with Ven and watch the stars, like we used to.” Aqua said. Her blue eyes sparkled. 

Terra nodded, said his goodbyes, and headed out of her room and down the hall to his one. Only once his door was closed did he press his hand to his cheek, the spot where she’d kissed him still tingling.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Tell me a secret."

“Do you want to know a secret?”

Terra didn’t look up from the wayfinder in his hand, his fingers pressed against the sharp metal points. His feet hung in open space where he sat on the edge of his home. If he tried hard enough, he could pretend the building behind him looked the same as it had in his childhood.

“I don’t know. Do I?”

Aqua laughed, a breathy pleasant sound, and settled next to him. Her stocking-clad legs slipped down to dangle next to his. She tapped her foot to his gently before pulling her own wayfinder from her pocket, fingering the raised symbol in the center.

“I thought you might,” Aqua said. Terra closed his eyes, listening to the gentle sounds of her breathing. Her presence usually brought a chill that was comforting, familiar. She’d always run cold, for as long as he’d known her. She had a gift for ice magics, and she reflected it. She was always cool to the touch. It fit her. Cool, calm, collected Aqua, the balance to his own hotheadedness. Usually, he felt it whenever she sat close to him, but maybe the warm night air was balancing her out tonight.

Yes, he wanted to know.

“Tell me a secret,” he murmured, opening his eyes again. He loved the starlight in her hair. It reminded him of what felt like a lifetime ago. Aqua smiled and shifted just a little closer, rested her head on his shoulder. Terra adjusted himself to make his shoulder more comfortable for her. She sighed softly and nuzzled into his neck. He shivered and hesitantly wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Are you sure?” she asked, and did she sound regretful? Terra bit the inside of his cheek and carefully removed his arm from her waist. Just in case.

“I’m sure.”

“I’m sorry, Terra,” she whispered into his neck before pulling away. Terra turned to face her fully, to apologize for whatever he had done wrong, but stopped short when he noticed the way Aqua seemed to be fading at the edges. “I’m so sorry.”

“Aqua? What’s going on? Why are you sorry?”

A single tear slid down her face, shimmering like the starlight in her hair.

“I’ll find you. I’ll get out of here and I’ll find you and I’ll save you. I promise.”

Terra shook his head and reached to cup her cheek, but she pulled away.

"Find me where? Aqua, where are you?" His voice wavered. He felt like he should know, like he should understand, but he'd been here alone for so long now, he couldn't remember much of anything that had happened after Xehanort had taken control of him. He didn't know why Aqua was crying or what she was apologizing for, but he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

“You wanted a secret, Terra? Here’s my secret,” Aqua said, visibly swallowing back her tears and forcing herself to stop. “I don’t know how I’ll ever find my way back to you. I… I don’t think I’m strong enough.” 

Terra gently touched her cheek, wiping away the shining tear there. She leaned into his touch with something near desperation, holding it there with both of her own hands. Terra could feel the sharp points of her wayfinder pressing against the back of his hand. “I believe in you, Aqua. You’re stronger than anyone I know.”

The hands gripping his shook. “I’m scared, Terra. It’s… so dark here.” 

Terra held her like that until there was nothing of her left to hold. He could do nothing else but watch as she slowly dissolved away to stardust. He stared at the place she’d been for a moment that may as well have been a year before turning away slowly and settling again on his ledge, staring out across the lonely blackness with his wayfinder safely in his hands. The marks from her own charm had pressed red marks into the back of his palms. He ran his finger gently along the creases.

She was strong enough. Even if she didn’t believe it… he did. He didn't know where she was or what had happened, but he knew she was strong.

They’d find each other again. They had to. Terra had a secret of his own to share, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I legitimately don't know what I was going for with this. I liked the idea of Terra and Aqua being able to kind of communicate, the way Terra's spirit calls out to Aqua at the end of BBS. Maybe, even after Aqua is lost to the Realm of Darkness, they can still kind of do that. I think that'd be nice. They both need something to keep them sane, after all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "We just met at a party and were getting along, then everything went insane and you disappeared before I could get your information."
> 
> This one's pretty fully AU.

Terra wasn’t usually the type for parties. Well, at least not this kind of party. They were too loud, too crowded, too full of teenagers drinking too much alcohol and getting too wild for him.

And yet, here he was, shrugging off his jacket in the body-heated living room of yet another party and scanning his eyes hopefully across the crowd, only for his shoulders to slump a bit in disappointment when he didn’t see the head of soft, blue hair he was looking for.

You see, Terra had a very good reason for frequenting these parties, and it wasn’t for his own enjoyment. He was a man on a mission, in fact. It had all started a few months ago, when Axel had dragged him to this house party on a Friday night, promising it wouldn’t be too crazy. Terra had been dumb enough to believe him, which was how he found himself wandering aimlessly while he waited for his friend to pass out so Terra could stuff him into the passenger seat and drive him home. He wasn’t about to trust his friend to find a sober driver in this crowd. He was just heading back into the living room to see if Axel was ready to go yet when he saw her.

She was sitting alone on one of the loveseats pushed to the walls of the room, her legs curled gracefully under her. She seemed oblivious to the noise and chaos around her. There was a book lying open in her lap, its cover hidden from Terra. Blue hair, a pastel shade that complimented her simple black dress, fell around her eyes and kept Terra safe from her noticing his probably obvious staring. She seemed both as out of place as Terra felt and somehow more in place than anyone else, though that might have just been the ambiance talking.

Before Terra even realized what was happening, he was walking over to her. When she didn’t react to his presence, Terra awkwardly cleared his throat. She looked up, a slight frown on her lips. 

“Yes?” she asked. Her fingers fidgeted with the pages of her book. Terra shifted, uncomfortable under her gaze, but pressed on regardless.

“Um, do you mind if I sit next to you?” he asked in reply.

Her frown softened into a more neutral expression. “As long as you don’t mind me reading my book.”

Terra smiled in reply and sat down next to her, trying not to take up too much space in order to look nonthreatening as possible. “I don’t mind at all.”

She looked skeptical for a moment, but then seemed to accept his words as truth and returned to his book. Terra sighed and slowly relaxed next to her, just relieved to have found one calm place in the madhouse Axel had dragged him to.

The girl was quiet for a time, the pounding music eating away the sound of her turning pages. Terra wondered how she could focus on the tiny print of her book in such a loud place, but maybe she frequented these sort of places. Maybe she was a driver for a friend of her own. Maybe they were in the same boat. 

“Have you read this book?” The girl asked, and Terra was jolted out of his thoughts at the realization that she was looking up at him. Her eyes were such a bright blue. 

“Uh, I don’t think so?” Terra said. The girl’s lips curved into a smile- they were a lovely pink, Terra wondered if it was natural- and she laughed. Well, Terra assumed she’d laughed. She was too far away to hear that well.

“Well, you were staring at it, so I assumed you may have read it before.”

Terra rubbed the back of his neck and tried not to look too uncomfortable from being caught. “N-no, just curious…”

She placed a bookmark in the book and closed it, surprising Terra. He hoped he hadn’t made her uncomfortable with his staring. 

“Aqua,” she said simply. Terra must have looked confused, because she graced him with another smile. “My name. It’s Aqua.”

“Oh,” Terra replied. He ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed for being so stupid. “My name’s Terra.”

Aqua held out a hand. Terra took it, amazed at how small her hand seemed compared to his.

“It’s nice to meet you, Terra,” Aqua said, withdrawing her hand. Terra wished she wouldn’t. “Sorry for the silent treatment. I had to make sure you were the honest type.”

Terra nodded. He couldn’t imagine what she’d had to deal with at these sorts of parties that she had such a test already planned. “That’s understandable.”

Aqua set her book aside and folded her hands in her lap instead. “So tell me, Terra, why you’re at this sort of party?”

Terra shrugged. “Designated driver. Not by choice. I, uh, kind of got tricked into coming.”

Aqua laughed, really laughed, her head leaned back in mirth. Terra couldn’t help but join her, even as he tried not to notice how nice her skin looked under the dim lighting. 

Once she’d calmed herself, she relaxed back into the cushions, her posture much more relaxed. “Same here, more or less. I wasn’t tricked, but I’m the ride home for a few people.”

Terra nodded and relaxed as well. There was something about her that made him feel comfortable. He wanted to stay here just like this. 

They’d talked the whole night, slowly relaxing more into each other. By the end of the night, they’d taken to whispering into each other’s ears instead of yelling. Terra went home that night with a drunken Axel in his passenger seat and the feeling of her breath on his neck.

It was only as he was laying down in his bed for the night, hair still damp from his shower, that he realized with a start that he’d forgotten to ask her for her number.

And so began his quest to find her again. He started driving Axel to every party, pretending that he did it solely to keep the redhead safe. He’d had very little luck so far. It was the same every weekend. Walk in, scan the party hopefully for a flash of blue, a glance of creamy skin under a black dress or a girl with a book on a couch. When he didn’t see her, he would find himself a couch (preferably a loveseat) and sulk, hoping that she’d walk in every moment up until the time came for him to dragg Axel home. 

This went on for a month, then two, then three, until Terra was starting to slowly give up hope of ever seeing the blue-haired girl again. Still, he kept going to parties, kept crossing his fingers that maybe this one would be the one where he finally saw her again. Terra sighed and settled himself on the first seat he could find, an oversized armchair. He drank his soda and stared without seeing into the crowd of sweaty bodies dancing in the living room in front of him.

Someone cleared their throat next to him. “Um, do you mind if I sit here?”

Terra looked up, prepared to point out that there was no space for another person since he was sitting in an armchair, only for the words to die in his throat. Instead, all that spilled out was a name.

“Aqua!”

Aqua smiled and gestured playfully at the chair. “Well?”

Terra smiled and opened his arms, praying this was the right decision she was looking for. “There’s always space for you.”

Aqua laughed and settled herself in his lap, much to Terra’s amazement. “Come here often, then?”

Terra could only laugh as he wrapped his arms carefully around her waist, still sure this was all just a dream. Her dress was white this time, he noted absently. It looked nice on her.

“Pretty often, yeah,” he responded. She was very warm. He kept noticing the smallest things about her, things he’d had to fill in since their first meeting. Her hair was a softer shade of blue than he remembered, but her eyes were even brighter. She smelled nice.

Aqua laughed and leaned her head back against his shoulder. Terra couldn’t hide his surprised smile.

“Hey, Aqua?” Terra said into her ear, reveling in the way she shivered in his arms.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Before you leave, can I give you my number?” Terra said. He hoped this was right, that she wouldn’t say no. He really, really wanted to see her again like this.

Aqua sighed and relaxed back into him. “Only if I can give you mine in return.”

Terra laughed. “It’s a deal.”


	5. Chapter 5

Terra’s eyes fluttered open in the dim half-light of a strange room he didn’t remember falling asleep in. He sat up slowly, running a hand through disheveled chocolate hair and trying to shake the sleep from his limbs, the dull exhaustion settled deep in his bones and the discomforting telling him that something wasn’t quite right. Where were his friends? Where was he?

The room itself was completely unremarkable, white walls and fake-wood furniture and plain tan bedding across a bed Terra couldn’t remember laying down on. How had he ended up here, anyway? He cleared his throat and called out into the oppressive silence.

“Ven? Aqua?”

He waited a moment for a response before sitting up, pushing back the bedding and moving toward the door. The knob turned suddenly once he got halfway there, the door opening and revealing a young woman with blue hair.

“Terra,” she said, her lips curling into a sweet smile as she entered the room, pushing the door closed behind her with her hip. “Did you sleep well?”

Terra relaxed, tension he hadn’t even registered leaving his shoulders all at once as he moved toward her. “Yeah, I slept fine. Where are we? Where’s Ven?”

Aqua looked past him, at the curtains covering what Terra assumed was a window, before meeting his eyes again. Terra frowned for a moment, unable to place his finger on the stirring of discomfort in his stomach, before Aqua moved closer to him and gently cradled his jaw in her hand. Terra dismissed the discomfort immediately, leaning into her touch with a gentle sigh.

“Just a hotel off-world,” Aqua supplied after a moment. “Ven’s still asleep.”

Terra chuckled, trying to not be so hyper-aware of her slender fingers still against his skin, their touch cool against him. “Of course he is.”

Aqua pulled her hand away, choosing to tangle their fingers together instead, much to Terra’s surprise. “It’s still really early,” Aqua murmured into the charged space between them. “Why don’t we go back to bed too?”

Terra swallowed nervously, his azure eyes flicking between her face, to their twined hands, to the unmade bed nearby. “I, um, I’m really not tired, Aqua.”

Aqua grinned then, her eyes sparking with mischief, and Terra was too entranced by the light he saw there to register that this all felt just a little off, like his word had shifted an inch to the left with no explanation.

“Me either,” Aqua responded. Terra squeezed her fingers tighter, a reflex born of nerves and anticipation curling low in his stomach at the promise in her voice.

“Uh, well, what do you want to do then?” Terra asked, trying to figure out just what she was offering him, what she was suggesting in that lilt in her voice.

Aqua only shrugged before taking a lithe step forward, resting her free hand on the center of his chest and gently pressing. Terra took a step back, and another, dancing their strange slow dance across the wooden floor beneath his bare feet before the backs of his knees hit the bed and he sat on its surface, the springs squeaking from the sudden weight.

Aqua, now standing over him, only smiled sweetly and climbed onto the bed next to him, settling herself fluidly on its plush surface. Terra fidgeted under her skylight gaze, waiting to see what she would do next, afraid to push anything lest she snap out of whatever fever had driven her to this.

Her sweet smile curled into a smile as she rested her hand on his shoulder, her fingers playing across the tight curl of muscle beneath skin. Almost in a trance, Terra lifted his hand to cup her cheek in return. He met her eyes for a moment before hers fluttered closed, her long eyelashes sweeping her cheeks. She was beautiful, strong and delicate and real, and Terra didn’t know what was happening or why it was happening but he knew that he wanted to kiss that gorgeous little smile, wanted to know what her lips would feel like pressed against his. He leaned in slowly, giving her the chance to pull away even though it had been her who had started this whole mess, offering her the one last chance to get away. 

Her breath was warm and gentle on his skin, he was close enough to see each individual eyelash on her face, when her smile twisted into a smirk, just wrong enough to give Terra pause. Her fingers squeezed tighter on his shoulder, just this side of painful, and her eyes slowly opened again. 

Her irises were bright, shining gold.

Terra released her suddenly, the shock and terror curling in his gut and telling him to get away, back away, something was wrong.

“What’s wrong, Terra?” The not-Aqua purred, her eyes almost glowing in the dim half-light that seemed to be growing darker, and was the world fading around him? Terra tried to speak but his voice caught in his throat as Aqua’s smirk widened, a parody of the excited smile he knew she should have. It was twisted, dark, wrong wrong wrong. “I thought this was what you wanted.”

Terra sat up with a shout, the bed beneath him turned to fractured stained glass, the fragments of his heart left inside a body that had been stolen from him. The dark around him pressed, reminding him of where he was and what he had become. He looked beside him at the dully glowing wayfinder he had fallen asleep holding, and pressed his palms to his eyes, desperately trying to forget the feeling of her warm breath ghosting past his skin, the faded memories and dulled imaginings of something he might never get a chance to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this in response to a photo on Tumblr since the artist said if anybody wanted to write a fic for their photo to feel free, so I, um, did. You know. You can see it [here](http://steadyknight.tumblr.com/post/151360457512/really-wanted-to-upload-this-with-a-short-fic)

**Author's Note:**

> These are all reposted from my tumblr, writinginavacuum.tumblr.com, where I take requests.


End file.
